Scientists Changing CO2 Into Something Good Win Roddenberry Prize

Gene Roddenberry always liked to keep one eye in the present, and another deep into the future. His 1960s series Star Trek would go on to define fandom for a half century, and now his son is following up with a prize that he hopes will help create the future his father envisioned.

Rod Roddenberry, who is an executive producer on the upcoming CBS All Access series Star Trek: Discovery, announced the winners this week for his first-ever Roddenberry Prize, awarding $1 million to support “innovative solutions that address humanity’s greatest challenges.”

Winning the $400,000 grand prize is Opus12, which looks to convert industrial carbon dioxide emissions into valuable chemicals and fuels, reducing the carbon footprint of the world’s heaviest emitters while creating a new revenue stream from what is discarded today as a waste product.

The key people behind Opus12 are Nicholas Flanders, Etosha Cave and Kendra Kuhl, all who combine cutting-edge scientific expertise in the field of carbon dioxide electro-reduction as well as scaling electrochemical technologies, to help develop the technology.

The Opus12 crew were just one of more than 600 applicants for the award, designed to re-imagine how the world teaches and learns, cares for the environment, eradicate disease, and connect more deeply with issues people care about.